Spaulding to Discuss Return on Relationships at Spring Conference

The 16th NARMS Spring Conference & Exposition is starting to materialize with the announcement that registration for attendees, exhibitors and the Portola Plaza Hotel are now all available on-line. To further energize the annual event, NARMS announced that Tommy Spaulding has been signed to kick off the morning general session on April 12. The 2011 conference is slated for Monterey, California on April 9-12.

As a national development consultant, author of a best seller and former leader of Up With People, Spaulding is sure to set the stage for a great final day at conference. During the session, Spaulding will share the primary message from his new book, “It’s Not Just Who You Know.” His heartwarming and humorous stories from life and business illustrate how the genuine and lasting relationships can grow your organization, advance your career and change your world.

A one-time cast member of the Up With People group, Spaulding later became the organization’s president and CEO. Currently he runs multiple nonprofit and for-profit companies while speaking to audiences about how the power of relationships can bring positive bottom-line results to organizations of every size and type.

As members of the at-retail merchandising and marketing industry, we often discuss the Return-on-Investment (ROI) that we offer manufacturer and retailer clients. On a sparkling morning in California, Spaulding will introduce the concept of Return on Relationships. What a perfect way to start the final day of an event that is all about learning, growing and developing relationships.

As mentioned earlier, everything you need to start planning your trip to The 16th NARMS Spring Conference & Exposition is now available on-line. Click here to visit the Conference Center for more information and to register. You will want to check in frequently as momentum builds for our showcase event.

Chain Store Guide Issues Department Store Report

Perhaps no channel faces more significant challenges than that of traditional department stores. For NARMS members, opportunities exist to assist these companies with at-retail merchandising and marketing initiatives as they attempt to reestablish their value in the face of increasingly budget conscious consumers and blurred channels. To help better understand the market, Chain Store Guide has prepared a profile on the Top 10 Department Store Companies in the U.S. and Canada.

According to the report, the department store industry itself is basically represented by these ten retailers. Their sales of $111 billion for fiscal 2009 accounted for 88% of all department stores sales. These companies also constitute the vast majority of store count in the channel with 4,111 stores making up 80% of all department store locations.

Chain Store Guide, operating out of Tampa, Florida, is a market research company that focuses on the retail and restaurant industries. This report makes a handy reference tool for all those who service the retail industry by providing a brief profile on each of the top ten companies. Each profile contains 2009 sales and store count with a concise description of the stores physical layout, chain specialties and future expansion plans. The companies featured include Sears Domestic, Macy’s, JCPenney, Kohl’s, Nordstrom, Dillard’s, Sears Canada, Neiman Marcus, Belk and Hudson’s Bay.

The report lists and ranks the companies by sales and by number of department store units. Sears Domestic leads the list in terms of dollar sales followed closely by Macy’s. Not surprisingly, all have experienced decreased sales over the past three years. As far as store count, JC Penney and Kohl’s are number one and two respectively, with both over 1,000 locations. While some of these retailers have experienced a decrease in footprints over the past three years, Sears Canada has gone the opposite direction going from 196 stores in 2008 to a projected 402 stores in 2010.

You can download an electronic version of the Chain Store Guide - A Look Into The Top 10 Department Store Companies by clicking here. It makes a great addition to your marketplace and competitive intelligence file.

Sep 24, 2010 IRI/Morning NewsBeat

Below is the list of articles you will find for the week ending 9/24/10 edition of Retail Industry News.

- Walmart Teams Up With FedEx For New E-Commerce Initiative
- Aldi Milks A Price Advantage To Build Dallas Market Share
- Aldi To Open Mall Store In Illinois
- Consumer Sentiment Continues To Stall
- Sansolo Speaks: “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year”
- Roundy’s Plans Mariano’s Store For Palatine, Illinois
- When Times Are Tough, Dollar Stores Show Real Growth & Flexibility
- New ShopRite Offers Dietitian Services
- Supervalu Embarks On Environmental Initiative
- FastNewsBeat
- The MNB Wal-Mart Watch

Click here to read Retail Industry News

NARMS International to Feature Tommy Spaulding at Annual Meeting

Stevens Point, WI: Tommy Spaulding, national leadership development consultant, author of best seller and former leader of Up With People will address the retail service industry leadership at the 2011 NARMS Annual Spring Conference & Exposition on Tuesday, April 12. Spaulding will kick off the final morning’s general session for the gathered retail leaders, sharing the primary message captured in his new book, It’s Not Just Who You Know.

A one-time cast member of the Up With People group, Spaulding later became the organization’s president and CEO. Currently he runs multiple nonprofit and for-profit companies while speaking to audiences far and wide about how the power of relationships can bring positive bottom-line results to organizations of every size and type.

Known for his inspirational-yet-practical keynote approach, Spaulding is known for his heartwarming and humorous stories from life and business that he uses to illustrate how the genuine and lasting relationships can grow your organization, advance your career and change your world.

In his new book, Spaulding highlights points such as: It’s not just who you know, or what they can do for you, but what you can do for them. Motives matter. Establishing a deeper connection is about authenticity, not manipulation; reciprocity, not selfishness. Every relationship is a two-way street; we never know when a chance encounter can change the direction of our lives.

ABOUT NARMS
NARMS’ nearly 400 member companies perform well over $3 billion in merchandising services, sales marketing, event marketing, demonstration and other retail services annually. The international trade association serves as a “central gathering point” for the retailing industry; promoting and establishing industry standards; providing critical industry research studies and educational information about the industry while acting as a voice for its diverse membership of service providers, manufacturers, retailers, and associates. NARMS represents all classes of trade including: grocery, drug, mass, department, home and building centers, computer and office supply, electronic, value retailers, specialty, and convenience retailers.

The varied educational offerings supporting improvement and excellence in retailing practices are all part of NARMS – U, the educational arm of NARMS International, and include continuing education under the banner of www.NARMScertifyU.com. Additional NARMS information is available at www.narms.com, including details about the 16th NARMS Spring Conference & Exposition at Portola Plaza Hotel, Monterey, CA on April 9-12, 2011.

Contact:
Ken McKenzie
Vice President
National Association for Retail Marketing Services
2417 Post Road
Stevens Point, WI 54481
Phone: 1 715 342 0948
FAX: 1 715 342 1943
kmckenzie@narms.com

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SN Looks at NARMS Members Use of Tech Training

The September 6th issue of Supermarket News contained a feature by author Julie Gallagher in the CENTERSTORE section on how third-party merchandisers are striving to do more than just have a representative present for demos or other at-retail assignments. Rather, they are training brand ambassadors by using webinars, streaming video and even mobile apps. The section also has a sidebar on how members can use NARMScertifyU to enhance these initiatives.

In the article, Michael Stern of New Concepts in Marketing explains how the use of these advanced tools and techniques are making demos more consistent, cohesive and repeatable across different outlets. Although the tech training tools are sophisticated, the goal is basic in that they bring associates closer to sales goals of the customer by allowing them to deliver messages about products, display assembly and the appropriate ways to uniformly engage shoppers.

Ethan Charas, of Stratmar Retail Services and vice-chairman of NARMS, says that the training takes the third-party company outside of the mindset that they are just providing a warm body who is just offering a sample. The rep is elevated and empowered as the last point of contact whose mission is to convince the customer to buy. Charas goes on to say that these advanced techniques and tools allow the training to be affordable and return to a level of quality not found since the time of in-person training. And there are some added benefits. The tools allow tracking of how many times they are accessed so a measure of the reps professionalism and desire to advance is now possible. The communication is not a one-way street. Often times, training content is altered based on the reps immediate feedback.

Dr. Kenny Herbst of Wake Forest University notes in the piece that his research indicates customers are looking for a brand ambassador who is educated and knowledgeable. The presence of a rep armed with the right selling points and product information greatly enhances the chances that the product ends up in the shopping cart.

You can click here and download the section for yourself. It provides some great insight on how some NARMS members are enhancing Return-on-Investment through forward thinking and demonstrates how at-retail merchandising and marketing service companies continue to evolve to meet and exceed the needs of our customers.

Exhibit at GlobalShop, The Retail Solutions Event

Believe it or not, 2011 budgeting is upon us. It is a time when the at-retail merchandising and marketing service company members of NARMS are putting together sales and marketing plans for next year. Today, we will offer you an exciting option. NARMS is one of three associations who are co-sponsoring GlobalShop, the world’s largest annual trade show and conference dedicated to store design, visual merchandising and shopper marketing. The show runs from March 28-30 in Las Vegas at the Sands Expo and Convention Center. There are many benefits of being a GlobalShop exhibitor.

GlobalShop brings the industry together for a once a year, one-stop opportunity to meet face to face with the people you will be working with throughout the year. There is simply no other time that a customer can see so many options in one place and a supplier can see so many customers and prospects.

Year in and year out, GlobalShop attracts thousands of industry professionals under one roof. Over 80% of the top 100 retailers and top 100 consumer goods companies attend GlobalShop on an annual basis. Exhibiting at GlobalShop is the only way for an industry supplier to have access to show attendees. GlobalShop protects your investment in the show by limiting access to non-exhibiting suppliers so you do not have to worry about seeing your competition walking the floor. All attendees are specifically invited to attend based on their industry and function.

Your booth in the At-Retail Marketplace and Retail Marketing Services section will put you face to face with 16,000 industry professionals. Additional visibility is gained through access to the pre-registered attendee list providing 7,000 impressions and the official show directory profile list yielding 30,000 impressions. In addition, the website company profile listing has average page views 120,625 per month during peak months.

As announced last week, NARMS International is also sponsoring an educational session to be held on Tuesday, March 29 at 3:00 p.m. The session, “Full-Price/Full-Profit, Yes, It’s Still Possible”, will be led by Mark Hunter and will contain steps retailers and vendors can both take to maximize their price and avoid using discounting as sales strategy.

GlobalShop provides a dynamic selling environment for your company. This is a once-a-year opportunity to connect you with 16,000 industry buyers when they are most open to buy. For more information on being and exhibitor at GlobalShop 2011, click here.

Sep 17, 2010 IRI/Morning NewsBeat

Below is the list of articles you will find for the week ending 9/17/10 edition of Retail Industry News.

- Clash Of The Titans: 7-Eleven, Couche-Tard Square Off For Casey’s
- Lack Of U.S. Produce Consumption Could Lead To Retailer Tax Breaks
- Sansolo Speaks: “When Logic Fails”
- Whole Foods Signals New Approach To Seafood
- Online Grocery Shopping Getting Ready to Fly Higher In U.S.
- Yet Another Next Generation Vending Machine
- Sam’s Renovates Its Approach To Food, Focuses on Relevance
- Giant Eagle Unveils New Ad Campaign
- Report: Private Label Seen As “Fertile Ground” For North American Retailers
- Making The Customer The Owner: The Coop Experience
- Couche-Tard Goes Hostile In Casey’s Bid
- FastNewsBeat
- The MNB Wal-Mart Watch

Click here to read Retail Industry News

Next Webinar Gives Inside Look at NARMScertifyU

As providers of world class at-retail merchandising and marketing services, NARMS members are experts at executing brand marketing initiatives by operating a mobile and decentralized workforce. This fact offers a unique and challenging training proposition to HR managers and field operations heads. On Tuesday, September 21 at 1:00 PM CDT, Scot Maurath of bds mktg will give an inside look at a tool that can be the answer during his NARMS Webinar presentation, “NARMScertifyU: How you can enhance your company’s ability to identify, hire, train and retain top talent in the industry.” The event, another in a series of member educational offerings by NARMS-U, is sponsored by Natural Insight and brought to you through the technology of ReadyTalk.

During the hour-long session, you will discover what this online learning center has to offer to field representatives and how your company can take advantage of the tools and best practices to identify, hire, train, and retain top talent. Explore the tools that are available to you and share your thoughts on future tools to help companies like yours recruit efficiently and effectively, using NARMScertifyU as a learning resource.

Scot Maurath is the Learning Services Manager for bds mktg. He is responsible for designing and executing learning and performance programs for retailers, manufactures, and associations in various industries. Maurath has led the entire development of the NARMScertifyU training platform in partnership with NARMS. Additionally, he has developed training programs for Walmart, Sam’s Club, Jaguar, Land Rover, Mercedes Benz and Volvo. Maurath is a member of the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) and currently working towards becoming a Certified Professional in Learning and Performance (CPLP).

This session is complimentary to NARMS members as a membership service but is also made available to other interested persons at a non-member rate of $99.95. We encourage you to share this invitation with other co-workers and anyone else who might gain value from this information-sharing opportunity.

Imagine if all of your field personnel were considered in-store ambassadors for the brands they represent. Join us next Tuesday and see how that ideal can become a reality. Click here to register.

Sep 12, 2010 IRI/Morning NewsBeat

Below is the list of articles you will find for the week ending 9/10/10 edition of Retail Industry News.

- A&P Considers Food Emporium Sale As It Charts Next Steps
- California Lawmakers Say No To Statewide Plastic Bag Ban
- As Chain Turns 30, Whole Foods Founder Looks Ahead
- Free Is Just Another Word For Building Presence In New Markets
- Sansolo Speaks: “Ghostly Lessons”
- Cork Manufacturers Make The Sustainability Argument
- Save Mart Reorganizes To Strengthen Its Market Position
- 7-Eleven Revealed To Be New Casey’s Suitor
- Whole Foods Says It Has Reached Full Implementation Of HBC Packaging Guidelines
- Walmart Decentralizes Merchandising Responsibilities
- FastNewsBeat
- The MNB Wal-Mart Watch
- Executive Suite

Click here to read Retail Industry News

Hunter to Lead NARMS Sponsored GlobalShop Session

As reported in Progressive Grocer, Mark Hunter will talk profits at the 2011 GlobalShop show. NARMS International is sponsoring the educational session to be held on Tuesday, March 29 at 3:00 p.m. The session, “Full-Price/Full-Profit, Yes, It’s Still Possible”, will contain steps retailers and vendors can both take to maximize their price and avoid using discounting as sales strategy.

According to Hunter, discounting has become a strategy too often used as a tool to build sales; resulting in conditioning the customer into believing there is no reason to pay full-price. At GlobalShop, which runs from March 28-30 in Las Vegas, he will explain how techniques being used by others may be applied to benefit both retailers and suppliers and result in a more profitable industry in both developed and emerging markets.

Hunter helps individuals and companies identify better prospects, close more sales, and profitably build more long-term customer relationships. He is a consultative selling expert, specializing in custom-tailored sales programs that allow businesses to gain the edge they need to compete and win in the marketplace. To find out more about Hunter and to receive his weekly sales tip, visit www.thesaleshunter.com.

NARMS is proud to have taken a leadership role in GlobalShop for several years now. The annual show gives retailers and brand marketers a place where they can visit over 600 suppliers in one location while exhibitors meet thousands of buyers representing the fastest-growing retail chains and the Top 200 Global Brands.

NARMS is one of three associations who are co-sponsoring GlobalShop, the world’s largest annual trade show and conference dedicated to store design, visual merchandising and shopper marketing. The show is divided into six sections of the retail design industry: The Store Fixture Show, The Visual Merchandising Show, Store Design & Operations, The Digital Store, At-Retail Marketplace and Retail Marketing Services. The other co-sponsors are A.R.E. (Association for Retail Environments) and POPAI (The Global Association for Marketing at Retail.)

March and April are annually a very busy time as the conference season kicks off in earnest. Make your plans now to see Hunter and the other NARMS sponsored activities at GlobalShop and while you are at it, add the 16th Annual NARMS Meeting Spring Conference and Exhibition scheduled for April 9-12 in Monterey, CA.